A Population‐Based Twin Study on Sleep Duration and Body Composition

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/93648/1/oby.2011.274.pd

Tracking Blood Glucose and Predicting Prediabetes in Chinese Children and Adolescents: A Prospective Twin Study

We examined the tracking of blood glucose, the development of prediabetes, and estimated their genetic contributions in a prospective, healthy, rural Chinese twin cohort. This report includes 1,766 subjects (998 males, 768 females) aged 6–21 years at baseline who completed a 6-year follow-up study. Oral glucose tolerance test was performed for all subjects at both baseline and follow-up. We found that subjects with low fasting plasma glucose (FPG) or 2 h post-load glucose (PG) levels at baseline tended to remain at the low level at follow-up. Subjects in the top tertile of baseline plasma glucose tended to have a higher risk of developing prediabetes at follow-up compared to the low tertile: in males, 37.6% vs. 27.6% for FPG and 37.2% vs. 25.7% for 2hPG, respectively; in females, 31.0% vs. 15.4% for FPG and 28.9% vs. 15.1% for 2 h PG, respectively. Genetic factors explained 43% and 41% of the variance of FPG, and 72% and 47% for impaired fasting glucose for males and females, respectively; environmental factors substantially contribute to 2hPG status and impaired glucose tolerance. In conclusion, in this cohort of healthy rural Chinese children and adolescents, we demonstrated that both FPG and 2hPG tracked well and was a strong predictor of prediabetes. The high proportion of children with top tertile of blood glucose progressed to prediabetes, and the incidence of prediabetes has a male predominance. Genetic factors play more important role in fasting than postload status, most of which was explained by unique environmental factors

Recommendations for the management of the haematological and onco-haematological aspects of Gaucher disease1

Current knowledge of the haematological and onco-haematological complications of type 1 Gaucher disease has been reviewed with the aim of identifying best clinical practice for treatment and disease management. It was concluded that: (i) Awareness of typical patterns of cytopenia can help clinicians distinguish haematological co-morbidities. (ii) Red blood cell studies and complete iron metabolism evaluation at baseline are recommended. (iii) Haemoglobin levels defining anaemia should be raised and used in Gaucher disease treatment and monitoring. (iv) Surgeons should be aware of potential bleeding complications during surgery in Gaucher patients. The higher incidence of multiple myeloma in Gaucher disease suggests that Gaucher patients should have their immunoglobulin profile determined at diagnosis and monitored every 2 years (patients <50 years) or every year (patients >50 years). If monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is found, general MGUS guidelines should be followed. Future studies should focus on the utility of early treatment to prevent immunoglobulin abnormalities and multiple myeloma

Long-term follow-up and treatment in nine boys with X-linked creatine transporter defect

The creatine transporter (CRTR) defect is a recently discovered cause of X-linked intellectual disability for which treatment options have been explored. Creatine monotherapy has not proved effective, and the effect of treatment with L-arginine is still controversial. Nine boys between 8 months and 10 years old with molecularly confirmed CRTR defect were followed with repeated 1H-MRS and neuropsychological assessments during 4–6 years of combination treatment with creatine monohydrate, L-arginine, and glycine. Treatment did not lead to a significant increase in cerebral creatine content as observed with H1-MRS. After an initial improvement in locomotor and personal-social IQ subscales, no lasting clinical improvement was recorded. Additionally, we noticed an age-related decline in IQ subscales in boys affected with the CRTR defect

Acute inflammatory myelopathies

Inflammatory injury to the spinal cord causes a well-recognized clinical syndrome. Patients typically develop bilateral weakness, usually involving the legs, although the arms may also become affected, in association with a pattern of sensory changes that suggests a spinal cord dermatomal level. Bowel and bladder impairment is also common in many patients. Recognition of the clinical pattern of spinal cord injury should lead clinicians to perform imaging studies to evaluate for compressive etiologies. MRI of the spine is particularly useful in helping visualize intraparenchymal lesions and when these lesions enhance following contrast administration a diagnosis of myelitis is made. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis can also confirm a diagnosis of myelitis when a leukocytosis is present. There are many causes of non-compressive spinal cord injury including infectious, parainfectious, toxic, nutritional, vascular, systemic as well as idiopathic inflammatory etiologies. This review focuses on inflammatory spinal cord injury and its relationships with multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and systemic collagen vascular and paraneoplastic diseases

A twin study of chronic widespread pain.

A twin study of chronic widespread pain

Abstract P379: Adiposity Tracking and Its Heritability: A Longitudinal Study of Rural Chinese Children and Adolescents

Objectives: Examine adiposity tracking and estimate its heritability in a large prospective cohort of pre-pubertal and pubertal rural Chinese children. Methods: This report included 1317 children and adolescents from the Anqing region of China, aged 6 to 18 years at baseline, who also completed follow-up visit 6 years later. Anthropometric measures included body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), total body fat (TBF), percent body fat (%BF), trunk fat (TRF), and percent trunk fat (%TRF). Adiposity measures were obtained by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Locally weighted nonparametric smoothing function (SAS LOESS, SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA) were used to describe (1) “tracking” of adiposity measurements from baseline to 6-year follow-up, and (2) gender differences in the growth of adiposity measurements across age. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the heritability of tracking using the software Mx. Results: All anthropometric measures, except for %TRF, tracked significantly from baseline to follow-up in both genders. The middle baseline tertile, in general, had the lowest degree of tracking. Subjects in a high baseline tertile for BMI, TBF, %TBF, WC, and TRF were significantly more likely to be in the high tertile of TBF, %TBF, TRF at the follow-up. There was no good predictor for %TRF. Gender and pubertal status did not affect tracking, for TBF in females, and WC in the older age-group. The genetic correlation of BMI=0.60 (0.46-0.72); TBF=0.43 (0.29-0.55); %TBF=0.37 (0.23-0.50); WC=0.35 (0.11-0.56); TR=0.41 (0.27-0.54); and %TR=0.33 (0.07-0.59). Conclusion: The strong tracking of adiposity measures in this pediatric population underscores the importance of closely monitoring individuals with high BMI or adiposity over time; those in the medium tertile should also be monitored for upward trend due to their “mobility”. Only BMI showed a strong genetic correlation between baseline and followup, suggesting that environmental changes can influence adiposity depots. Our data raises the possibility that individuals at risk of adult obesity can be identified at early age so that early intervention can be initiated to prevent or mitigate obesity and related complications. </jats:p